Barber&#39;s chair.



W. F. KOKEN BABBER'S 01mm.

LPPLIOATION FILED JULY 16, 1910. I l

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

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W. P. KOKEN.

BARBERS CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1e, 1910.

Patented Deo. 12, 1911.

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WALTER F. KOKEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BARBERS CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Application filed July 16, 1910. Serial No. 572,358.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, WALTER F. KOKEN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State ofMissouri, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements lin BarbersChairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in barbers chairs; and itconsists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth inthe specification and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper portion of myimproved chair shown in reclining position, portions on the side nearestthe observer being broken, and parts being in section; Fig. 2 is asimilar view with chair in upright position; Fig. 3 is a front view ofFig. 2; Fig. 4 is a horizontal plan and section on the line 4 4 of Fig.2; Fig. 5 is a detached elevational view of one of the side or arm-restsupporting members; Fig. 6 is a top lan of the link connecting the backto the front apron; and Fig. 7 is a side view of said link.

Reclining barbers chairs may be conveniently divided into three types orclasses, viz., (1) those having a stationary seat and a movable back,apron and arms; (2) those having stationary arms and a movable seat,back and apron; and (3) those in which the seat and arms are stationaryand the back and apron movable. The present improvement belongs to thelast mentioned type, that is to say, the reclining of the chair isaccomplished by a joint movement of the back and apron, the seat andarms being stationary. It is the object of my invention to construct achair of the last mentioned type which shall be simplified in allessential particulars; one which may be readily manipulated; one whichcan be built light and yet possess durability and stiffness; one makingspecial provision for the support of the cushion constituting the seatproper, and one possessing further and other advantages better apparentfrom a detailed description of the invention which is as followsReferring to the drawings, 1, represents the plunger leading from thepump-cylinder (not shown) by which the chair is elevated and lowered aswell understood in the art,

the enlarged head 1 of the plunger carrying the rock-shaft 2 which iscontrolled by the lever 3, by which the sliding lock-bar 4 operating' onthe sides of the head 1 is released when the chair is to be reclined.The bar 4 is pivotally coupled at its front end to a bracket 5 securedto the apron 6.

The foregoing features are well known and understood in the art,requiring no detailed description, and being in no wise concerned withthe subject-matter of the present improvement.

The plunger 1, 1, supports the base-plate 7, which is of conventionaldesign and which is secured to the plunger in any well known mechanicalmanner. cured the side members or arm-rest supports 8, 8, (showndetailed in Fig. 5) the front and rear bottom ends of the inner face ofeach member having cast thereon Z-shaped angle-brackets 9, 9, the basalhorizontal flanges of said brackets being screwed to the base-plate 7,and the upper horizontal flanges (which are somewhat more extended thanthe bottom flanges) serving as direct supports for the cushion or seat S(indicated by dotted lines so as not to obscure the features identifiedwith the present improvement). The rear basal portions of the members Sare connected by a brace-plate or member 10 secured thereto in any wellknown mechanical manner. The arm rests are represented by R.

The upper ends of the side extensions or arms 6 of the apron 6 arehinged about pivotal pins or studs 11 to the inner faces of the arm-restsupports 8, there being pivotally secured to each such arm 6 at a pointrelatively below and removed from the stud 11, the front end of a link12 having front and rear upwardly deflected arms a, a', respectively(the rear arm being the longer), terminating in forks 13, 13',respectively. The general vertical plane of disposition of the link l2is at a slight angle to the parallel planes of disposition of the forks(Fig. 6) and to the general plane of movement of the link. The fork ofthe arm a is pivotally coupled to the arm' of the apron at the pointabove specified, the fork of the rear arm a being pivotally coupled tothe inner face of the lower front corner of the bottom side casting orbracket 14 of the back B, the said casting being pivoted about the stud15 to the inner face of the member 8 at a point- To the plate 7 areserelatively above the pivotal connection of the link 12 with saidcasting. What is true of one side of the chair is true of the oppositeside, so that a single description suffices for both. The cushion orseat S is of course, located between the planes of operation of thelinks 12, 12.

The operation of the reclining mechanism may be best explained by areference to Figs. 1 and 2; and for convenience it may be well to startwith the chair in its upright folded position as shown in Fig. 2. Itwill be seen that the pivotal points of the forks 13, 13, of the link 12have there reached the highest positions in the arcs through which theysweep (as a result of the rotations of the members 6 and 14 about theirrespective pivots or studs 11 and 15). When therefore the lock-bar 4 isreleased by the proper manipulation of the lever 3 (in a manner wellknown in the art and forming no part of the present invention), and theback B is tilted backward (Fig. 1), the pivotal point of connection ofthe fork 13 with the casting 14 drops below the point it occupied whenthe back was up (Fig. 2), said point describing the arc of a circle insuch drop. In describing1 such arc, however, the pointalso advancesforward thus shoving the entire link 12 forward. In this forwardmovement of the link the latter likewise drops as is obvious, and whilethus moving forward the links force the members 6', G, forward causingthe apron to swing about the common axis of the studs 11, 11, in whichswing the pivotal connections of the front forks 13, 13, of the links 12describe arcs sweeping downwardly, so that the links 12 movesubstantially in vertical planes and in lines parallel to the links. Theresult is that by the time the back B has reclined its full position,the apron 6 has been swung outwardly and upwardly its full limit, andthe chair is ready for the occupant to be shaved. Of course, the degreeto which the chair is allowed to recline is governed by the point ofarrest of the lock-bar 4 as well understood in the art. To restore theback and apron t0 their first position, the movement of the severalparts will of course, be the reverse of that already described. It willbe seen from the foregoing that by virtue of the specie position of thepivots and hinge connections, any binding of the movable parts isentirely precluded. The rear inward inclination of the members 12, 12,(Fig. 4) is for the obvious necessity of preventing binding, the generaldirection of that inclination following the direction of the side-arms8, 8. The forks 13, 13, however, must move in parallel planes disposedsubstantially at right angles to the axes of oscillation of the back Band apron 6 respectively. The position of the upper legs or ledges ofthe brackets 9 is such that they clear the links 12 even when the latterare in their lowest position, or that to which it is necessary to dropthem for the usual degree of inclination imparted to the parts B and Gfor purposes of shaving the occupant of the chair. The inequality of thelengths of the arms a, a', of the links comes from the fact that theaxis of suspension and oscillation of the apron is relatively below thecorresponding axis of the back B (Figs. 1, 2).

Having described my invention, what I claim is In a chair of thecharacter described, a pair of rigid side members provided with innerbasal seat-supporting means, a back hinged about a fixed axis betweenthe side members, a front apron hinged about a xed axis between the sidemembers, and links operating above the seat-supporting means, havingtheir opposite ends pivoted to the back and apron respectively at pointsrelatively below the axes of oscillation of the said back and apron.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER F. KOKE`\T.

)Witnesses EMIL STAREK, Gr; F. BnN'rRUr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

